10 things you must know about your readers if you're building an audience that loves you
Mastery Den, Saturday Edition, 5-min read.
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I've spoken a lot about the importance of writing what you mean, speaking from the soul and being yourself as much as possible when writing.
But this doesn't mean you're writing in a vacuum, only for yourself.
There must be an awareness about who you're writing for, how you can best help them, and how to speak to them in a language they understand.
You're writing in a way that brings you to life within the context of your ideal reader.
This means having as much awareness as possible about who this person is will be valuable. When this is lacking, you'll build a brand with little cohesion and no direction.
The following questions about your reader are ones you ask yourself or ones you ask your readers directly, either in person, through surveys, or via online conversation.
What transformation are you bringing your ideal client through?
Think of your work as guiding people through a transformation that takes them from their initial state (A) to an improved state (B).
For example, here at Mastery Den, the transformation is helping independent creators move from having little writing influence (A) to creating significant money and impact from their writing (B).
The transformation you choose to help others with is likely one you have experienced yourself, and you have picked up the lessons you now share.
The transformation your readers undergo will help you determine what type of content to share and products to build to help them along this journey from A to B.
So, find clarity on:
Who are they at point A?
Who are they at point B?
Next…
Who is your ideal reader?
You don't want to work with people you aren't enlivened by working with.
This needs to be seen as a long-term game, so you want to ensure you're attracting and working with people you'd at least prefer to work with and a handful who you work with more closely (through coaching, for example) and who you'd love to work with.
What are the attributes of the person you would most like to work with and bring through your transformation? The more detail you have, the better.
Who is the real-life version of your ideal reader?
Is there a less well-known or even famous person who represents this ideal reader or client? Here, you want to be thinking in terms of the higher price products or services you’ll be offering.
Find someone who can act as a real-life representation of your ideal reader or client (they may even become a client). I found several by looking at the YouTube videos I like to watch. For example, you'll discover personalities like this here and in the books you read.
Have a think about:
What are their fears?
What keeps them up at night? Solving these problems will make you very valuable indeed.
What would they want most?
Get a sense of their wants and secret dreams.
Both of these can be determined through a combination of guesstimation on your part. Still, you also want to gather as much of this information from specific people through things like surveys, asking them out for a coffee, or directly messaging them.
Here are a few more considerations that will help you connect more easily with your ideal audience and readers.
What solutions do they need the most that you can help with?
This starts with understanding their challenges.
The transformation you decided on earlier will help point to this.
Within a transformation, many will face various hurdles as they move from A to B.
The hurdles are their problems.
Your content and products provide solutions to these problems, many of which you will know intimately.
However, many of them will become apparent through your readers' questions. You also need to be proactive in asking them about their problems.
Problems point directly to the things you can write about that people need to read.
Your content demonstrates over time that you are indeed a superb source of relief for them—or have the potential to be.
What personal details and examples are you sharing with them?
Your readers want to know more about your own life because, after all, you're the one who has been on the transformation they are now embarking on.
They want someone to relate to who's been on/are currently on the journey, so they can see themselves in it too.
What can you tell them that would give them the faith they need to persevere?
Finally, knowing the journey they are on, you can find a way to empathise. This awareness will reveal some things you can say to encourage them.
Remember, you are the leader, guide and source of inspiration for them.
Thanks for reading.
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